Friday, April 14, 2017

(Rome) Andrea Tornielli, a regular visitor to the Domus Sanctæ Marthæ, where Pope Francis lives, put the brakes in an article by Vatican Insider on the report by another publication, close to Pope Francis, Il Faro di Roma, which had reported on Monday, 10 April, that Pope Francis would announce the recognition of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X as a personal prelature on 13th May in Fatima. Was it only a Vatican test balloon to test the reactions?

This is quite conceivable, but there is still movement behind the scenes. The report by Faro was strengthened by a reference to the website of the Sacred Heart of Jesus' Seminary of the Society in Zaitzkofen. First, it was said:

"Perhaps the Society will be established as a personal prelate until June [June 2018] by Rome."

The sentence was later deleted from the report. Apparently, it had not been published with the consent of the administration, or the publication of such a hypothesis had at the time been regarded as inappropriate.

Tornielli's first-hand information

When the report of a possible announcement of the canonical recognition of the Society, in connection with the 100th anniversary of the first Marian apparition in Fatima, was taken over by numerous media, Andrea Tornielli had hit the brake on the evening of the 12th of April. Tornielli is considered to be a house and court vaticanista of the pope. The content of his report can not be exactly interpreted. The fact of his intervention, on the other hand, is probably due to the wish of Pope Francis.

Tornielli emphasized in his article that "Pope Francis took two important steps in favor of the traditionalist group by thinking in both cases of the faithful who follow the Society."

Tornielli continued:

"Some sources have spoken of a possible acceleration, and the announcement of an imminent action of the granting of a personal prelature during the trip, which the Pope will undertake to Fatima on the 12th and 13th of May, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Marian apparitions, which have influenced the history of the 20th century."

But then the brakeman follows with some background information:

"However, the situation has not changed since a few months ago. The General Assembly of the Society, Bishop Bernard Fellay, has not yet signed the modified and simplified doctrinal statement, which contains a professio fidei, considered by the Congregation of the Faith and the Pontifical Commission, Ecclesia Dei, as a necessary step before the legal process, the full return of the [Priestly Society] St. Pius X to communion. "

Tornielli then provides basic indications of a Vatican roadmap:

"The pope and the Vatican dicasteries are in no hurry and do not want to push Fellay, knowing that he has to make the bill with differences of opinion within the Society. It is also foreseeable that the Holy See, before setting up the Personal Prelature, will adequately inform the affected bishops' conferences of those countries in which the Lefebvrians are present and effective.

"The time is not yet ripe"

Tornielli emphasizes that the "followers of the Society have a special veneration for the Mother of Fatima," and a pilgrimage of the Society to Fatima will take place on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Virgin Mary's apparition.

"But the time, as important sources of Oltretevere [Vatican] inform, is not yet ripe."
A somewhat cryptic piece of information, which is not explained in more detail, why and on what page is "the time not yet ripe". Tornielli explains why in Fatima on 13th May there will be no announcement on the Society with the canonization of the seer children, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and the centennial of the Marian apparitions, would be "pushed into the background."

The return of the Lefebvrians to the full communion," Tornielli said, "would be a message with a worldwide response since it would finally seal the end of the break-up in 1988." This rupture was already "partially restored," according to the papal house vativanista, in the decision of Pope Benedict XVI, "to abolish the excommunication of those who had received episcopal ordination."

Since 2012, when once - at that time still under Pope Benedict XVI. - after an imminent reconciliation, it is known that there are opposing positions in the Vatican and in the World Church, concerning a reconciliation with the Society. The different reports of media, which are close to the pope, seem to confirm a certain tug-of-war. The fact is that the voice of Andrea Tornielli is doubtless more important than that of Faro di Roma. Tornielli's report, with some concrete details on an intended procedure, confirms that he referred to his information, if not from the first hand, at least from the direct circle around the pope. The fact is that there are also parts in the Vatican, as already in 2012, who are working towards a recognition of the Society.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Edit: it's comical to see Lawler embrace ideas he's always been resistant to. Some day I'd love to see him kiss Bishop Fellay's ring.March 20, 2017

[Catholic Culture] The secretary of the Ecclesia Dei commission has confirmed that the Vatican is close to an agreement with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) that would regularize the status of the traditionalist group.Archbishop Guido Pozzo told the German newspaper Die Tagespost that the Vatican will ask the SSPX to endorse a formal declaration, resolving some remaining doctrinal issues. However, confirming what SSPX leaders have said, the Archbishop Pozzo acknowledged that the SSPX would be allowed to continue raising questions about some teachings of Vatican II. Over the years, the archbishop observed, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has answered a number of questions about conciliar documents, and “I do not see why this work of clarification and answers to doubts and reservations... could not be carried forward.”

Archbishop Pozzo said that, in interpreting the documents of Vatican II, one clear principle would be continuity: that if an understanding of the Council’s message involves a break with the constant teaching of the Church, “this intepretation must be rejected as false or inadequate.”

The archbishop suggested that the cause of reconciliation for the SSPX should be confided to the care of Our Lady of Fatima, as the Church approaches the 100th anniversary of the apparitions.

Friday, February 24, 2017

(Rome) The agreement between the Holy See and the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X is final. The role of Pope Francis is decisive. This is reported by the Vaticanist Matteo Matzuzzi in today's edition of Il Foglio.

"The rift between the Priestly Society of St. Pius X (Lefebvrian) and the Holy See is immediately about to be repaired," says Matzuzzi. Evidence that the "complex negotiations" are moving towards a "positive solution" are the intentions of the Society to buy the Santa Maria Immacolata building complex on the Esquiline, one of the seven hills of Rome. The complex is located close to the Lateran. The large neo-gothic church was built for an order at the end of the 19th century. This included other buildings that were used as a school in recent years.

The study center is to be built near the Lateran

According to Il Foglio, there will be a study center of the Society and additionally the General House of Personal Prelature, as soon as the Society is recognized as such by the Holy See.

The approach by Pope Francis himself has accelerated. In January on the 17-20 Bernard Fellay, the Superior General of the Society, was quartered in Santa Marta in the Vatican. With him, Monsignor Alfonso de Galarreta and the Assistant General, Father Alain Nely, had come to Rome. At the talks, the Superior of the Sisters of the Society also took part. Father Nely is commissioned to complete the purchase at Esquiline.

The Society has had contacts, as Monsignor Fellay confirms, in Argentina with the then primate, Jorge Mario Bergoglio. "He has known us for a long time." If there were problems with a local bishop, one had turned to the primate. He said: "You are, of course, Catholic and not schismatic. I'll help you." He did.

That has to do with the laws of Argentina. The Latin country gives Catholic priests a residence permit only if there is an official confirmation from local church representatives that the priests are officially recognized. In this respect, in a single case (individual cases), there were interventions by Archbishop Bergoglio, who issued this confirmation for the Argentine state.

The fact that things had not already come to an agreement with Rome in 2012 led Matzuzzi to the resistance of the French part in the Society. Had it been up to the German District, the Society would already have "returned to communion with Rome".

"Fellay now seems ready to go to end the standoff, even at the cost of painful losses among his faithful and priests," says Matzuzzi.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Edit: as we've maintained throughout, for good or ill, Bishop Fellay is open to reconciliation.

1. What was your initial reaction when you learned that Archbishop Lefebvre had chosen you to be one of the priests to be consecrated?

My first reaction was to think there must be others better than me; if possible, let this chalice pass from me! My second reaction was for my fellow priests, my brothers in the priesthood, "pro fratribus" because it is obvious that it is a big cross. It is a question of dedication for the others.

2. Can you recall your emotions and state of mind on June 30, 1988, after having received consecration from the hands of the Archbishop?

I don't recall much about my own feelings or emotions. What I remember was how the whole congregation was electrified. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. I've never seen that in my whole life. This I do remember. It was during the ceremony as well as after; a great joy, nothing else. It was overwhelming.3. In his Spiritual Journey, Archbishop Lefebvre describes a vision he had in the Cathedral of Dakar. Can you discuss how the 1988 Consecrations would seem to be a fulfillment of that vision?

Amazingly, I would say that I don't even make the connection between both. In fact, I don't think there is any. I don't think the measure of having bishops is directly related to the work itself. It's only a survival measure. It's not the essential of the work, which is to form and build priests according to the heart of Jesus. This is the main thing.
Link to Rorate Caeli...

Friday, February 8, 2013

Edit: His Lordship, the Bishop of Lausanne, appears as ill-informed about the dialogue as he is unwilling to concede good will on the part of Bishop Fellay. For someone who had participated in the dialogue, he is suspiciously unwilling to admit what other Church figures have been willing to admit, that there are two forces controlling the dialog. There is one which is willing to grant the SSPX recognition without any expectations, and there is another force which is completely uninterested in reconciliation and will look for pretexts and attempt to create an atmosphere of distrust.

Many blogs have pointed out that Protestant heretics are allowed to use Church property in the Diocese of Lausanne, but will dissident groups also be allowed to use these facilities? It seems to us that the SSPX's only true crime is that they have the temerity not only to hold, but to teach the Catholic Faith as well.

Here's the article in German from the Radio Vatican webpage:Switzerland: "The Society is Irresponsible"

[Radio Vatican] The Bishops of Lausanne, Genf and Fribourg, Charles Morerod reiterates his skepticism about the SSPX. In an interview with Vatican Radio, Morerod, who was before his episcopal ordination part of a Vatican dialogue commission with the Society, made a statement on Wednesday evening about a decree that prohibits the use church space in his diocese by the Society.

"I am surprised that we're speaking of it now, because I have published this decree. It was the decree but in September 2011 was decided by the Episcopal Conference, from when I did not even belonged to it! So I thought it was already prepared on my desk when I became a bishop, and was told that the Bishops' Conference each of its members were given the freedom if they wanted to publish it or not. The Bishop of Sion and the abbot of Saint-Maurice have therefore published a decree in January 2012, the bishops of Basel and St. Gallen then in February 2012. When you consider that the seat of the SSPX is located in the jurisdiction of the diocese of Basel and the seminary at the area of the Diocese of Sion, I am astounded that they did not show any reaction, more than that year. "

Moreover, the decree also say regarding the SSPX anything new compared to episcopal directives from the year 1999.

"There's really nothing new in this regard - almost nothing new. Except that at one point there is an update, because the text of Benedict XVI was quoted from the year 2009. So I waited before the publication of the decree for a year because I wanted to see, first of all, the evolution of the dialogue. And I have to say I was disappointed in how the dialogue developed " [Wishful thinking, perhaps?]

This disappointment was associated mainly with a book of one of the bishops of the SSPX: It examines the theology Benedict XVI. , accusing the Pope several times "without talking about the grist" before, to be heretical. That was indeed "serious" says Bishop Morerod.

"But I said then: After all, not even the Superior General of the SSPX, who wrote that. This one - that Bishop Fellay - but had asked the other bishops to be more conciliatory. So maybe there was hope? But then I see in November 2011, the text of a sermon by Bishop Fellay, who said among other things: we can not recognize the so-called New Mass as it is allowed. I said to myself: Well, really - this shows that our dialogue did not help much. And then Fellay said in a sermon: We are in terms of the dialogue now, back at the same point where we were in 1975 already. He asserted practical: What we have done, has brought nothing, except that it has probably worsened the situation even "!

[Bishop Fellay has never said anything about the way the Holy Father says Mass. We're afraid that such gratuuitous leaps are unhelpful, unless they're meant to help those who don't want the SSPX situation resolved.]

"Serious problems for Unity"

"Deeply irresponsible": this is what Bishop Morerod took from what the head of the SSPX then declared in December during a visit to Canada. There are, according to Fellay, the "enemies of the Church," namely "Jews and Freemasons" who sabotaged the talks in the Vatican with the Society and halted it.

"This is deeply irresponsible, not only because it is a very harsh criticism at the Vatican, but also because the story we ought to have taught that one should abstain from such a manner of speaking about the Jews better! The Council's teaching and the visits of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. in the Roman synagogue, which have criticized the way the SSPX always show a different face of the Catholic Church! And I do not want priests, who claim to be Catholic, the Catholic Mass as, classify bad 'or the Jews call enemies of the Church, because I think this is disturbing. "

And yet the western Swiss Bishop was afraid to flatly describe the SSPX as "schismatic". Their classification by the Roman Catholic Church is currently even now "unclear".

"It's not clear, because the Church sought to use its benevolence in its approach. But when a bishop of the Society, without being denounced, accuses the Pope of being a heretic, the Superior General, then the describes the Eucharist, which the Pope celebrates, as ' bad ' rank and insist that it brings 'the loss of faith with itself', I would say: This provides at least serious trouble for unity! "

Morerod indicates that he has not spoken with members of the SSPX in his diocese. Although he was willing to meet, but there is in the west of Switzerland not so many SSPX. That talks with the Society could ultimately lead to their agreement with the Vatican, the Bishop looks decidedly skeptical. Finally, the attitude of Fellay has "hardened since last fall even further."

"But when I'm away too pessimistic now - all the better! Finally, I would be the first one would be happy if things should be all right after all. A decree as what we - I emphasize: not only I, but we bishops - have signed, can be indeed change again if the situation changes. That would be even better. " Link Radio Vatican ...

Worthy Initiative

Purpose

This is a polemical Catholic Royalist blog. It will also attempt to provide a window onto various events, situations and personalities not generally or favorably presented to the purview of the general public in the English speaking world. It also hopes to be a bridge for those who wish to cross over, unite and fight for the truth.